I have to admit it – I run for the bling. Sure, I got into it because it’s a great workout, and I really do love the adrenaline kick and the scenery and the sense of power it gives me. But man, I do love those race medals. Yes, I do run races that don’t give you medals, but right now, I have my two half-marathon medals hanging on the wall and I can’t wait to add to the list.
But typically, the better the bling, the more expensive the race. It makes sense, after all. Those races have to be paid for. And my favorite bling? That’s right, Disney bling. Those are some expensive races. But I love them. I love the whole experience, from the fireworks at the start to the characters cheering you on along the way to the super awesome medal at the finish.
I’m to the point where I won’t sign up for a half-marathon if there isn’t a medal. Ten miler? Sure. But not a half. If I run 13.1 miles, I want some bling to show off!
A lot of people disagree with this. They’d rather go for a simple race. They say the fun of the run is the running. And I agree. On every day but race day. 🙂 It’s just one way that I choose to spend my money.
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
I’m running my first half marathon this Sunday, the Nike Women’s Marathon. My bling will be a Tiffany necklace handed to me by a tuxedoed firefighter. Doesn’t get much better than that 🙂 Can’t wait to get it. And yes it’s an expensive race but I want the glory AND the necklace.